Juan Soto has not been able to play for the Washington Nationals yet this season after he tested positive for the coronavirus, but the slugger was finally cleared to return on Wednesday.
Soto has tested negative for COVID-19 enough times for Major League Baseball to give him the green light, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
Juan Soto has now been cleared to play for the #Nats after missing start of season after testing positive on opening day
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 29, 2020
Soto tested positive for the coronavirus on Opening Day, and he has had several negative tests since. He was reportedly frustrated with the league’s testing process, and there were some questions about whether his initial test could have been a false positive since he was asymptomatic and had multiple negative tests not long after testing positive.
Soto hit .282 with 34 home runs, 110 RBIs and an OPS of .949 last year. The 21-year-old recently spoke about how difficult it was for him to get his swings in during the quarantine. The Nationals are off to a 1-4 start and have scored two or less runs in their four losses, so they could use Soto’s bat back in the middle of their lineup.
